Follow us

Demi Lovato Is Ambassador for New Anti-Bullying Campaign

Demi Lovato has a secret to share: Growing up wasn’t always easy for her.

“I had a really tough time when I was in middle school,” the X Factor judge, 20, tells PEOPLE. “People would write ‘hate petitions’ [about me] and send them around to be signed. They’d have CD-bashing parties of my demos. They’d come to my house, stand across the street and yell things. It was a very emotional time for me, and all I wanted to do was get away.”

It was so bad, in fact, that Lovato believes it’s part of what led her to seek treatment for issues like an eating disorder and cutting nearly two years ago.

“Back then, there were times I didn’t think I’d be able to move on,” she admits.

Fortunately, Lovato has made it to the “other side,” and is now drawing on those painful experiences as the new ambassador for Secret’s “Mean Stinks” campaign, encouraging girls to “gang up for good” to end bullying in schools.

“I heard about the program last year, and thought it was such a great opportunity,” Lovato says. “They’re really trying to put an end to bullying.”

Thursday morning, the star surprised students at New York City’s Young Women’s Leadership School to talk to them about the program, which asks girls to pledge to have a “Drama Free School Year” by making a pinky swear, symbolized by wearing blue nail polish on their pinky fingers.

Manage Push Notifications

If you have opted in for our browser push notifications, and you would like to
opt-out, please refer to the following instructions depending on your device and
browser. For turning notifications on or off on Google Chrome and Android
click here, for Firefox
click here, for Safari
click here and for Microsoft's Edge
click here.